Second terms are when an officeholder can cement his or her reputation, for good or ill, and bequeath a political legacy. Kasich and his aides are keen politicians, yes. But it's also fair to say they also aim to be, and have been, shapers and managers of policy. Kasich fashioned an agenda long before his inauguration, especially for budgeting. This wasn't an accidental governorship groping for ideas.

In 2015, if Kasich wins a second term, he will almost certainly face General Assembly majorities composed of his fellow Republicans. In one sense, that's a plus: The paralysis that afflicts Washington didn't afflict Ohio.

But friendly legislative majorities can be perilous not just to taxpayers but also to a governor who, nominally, could benefit from a relatively pliable legislature.

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Overreach can also tempt a governor during his or her second term when the officeholder is a potential presidential candidate in 2016, as Kasich will be. Given that glittering prize, playing to a national audience from the Statehouse will be tempting. That'd be a mistake.

Rhetorically and programmatically, Kasich, like every Ohio governor since James A. Rhodes took office in 1963, is focused on job creation. Fair enough.

But if John Kasich wants to leave a legacy all his own, he'll need to focus additionally on stand-alone issues that are equally pressing. One example: the critical need to protect Lake Erie. Another: helping Ohio's regions rebuild their urban cores.

What Kasich must not do, if re-elected, is overreach by pandering to those Republican factions that believe that dividing Ohioans – by race, by sex, by sexual identity, by union membership, or income, or belief – is preferable to uniting them around common goals that can better everyone's lives. The temptation for such overreach will be plentiful. Kasich must resist.